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Online Complete Beginner Mandarin Wednesday 6:00pm -7:00pm PST (June 25th to July 30th) Instructor: Li (Julie)
🇨🇳 Complete Beginner Mandarin - Online Class
For learners in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose & the Bay Area
📅 Course Dates
June 25 – July 30th
Format: Online, small group (3–6 students)
Schedule: Weekly live classes
👥 Who This Course Is For
This course is designed for absolute beginners—students with no prior experience or only limited exposure to Mandarin Chinese. Whether you’re learning for travel, work, cultural connection, or personal enrichment, this welcoming in-person class helps you build real-world skills from the ground up.
If you're based in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, or San Jose, this is the perfect opportunity to join a small group class in a supportive, interactive setting and begin your Mandarin journey with confidence.
📖 What You’ll Learn
In this course, students are introduced to the building blocks of Mandarin through speaking, listening, reading, and writing practice. You’ll start to:
Understand Pinyin (the Romanized phonetic system for Mandarin)
Build core vocabulary for everyday situations
Use basic sentence structures for greetings, questions, and short conversations
Recognize and write essential Chinese characters (Hanzi)
Develop correct tones and pronunciation
Gain insight into Chinese cultural norms and communication styles
🌍 Themes and Topics Include
Polite greetings and self-introductions
Talking about your family, nationality, and hobbies
Numbers, dates, and time
Ordering food and shopping basics
Cultural etiquette and conversational customs
💬 What to Expect
Each class includes:
Live, interactive instruction with an experienced teacher
Speaking and listening practice through real-life dialogues
Vocabulary and grammar exercises
Guided reading and character writing
Cultural explanations and group activities
Light homework to reinforce weekly learning
✅ By the End of the Course, You’ll Be Able To:
Communicate in basic daily situations
Read and write a small set of foundational characters
Use common phrases and sentence patterns with accurate tones
Understand how Mandarin grammar works at the beginner level
Prepare to continue into a Mandarin High Beginner course
👩🏫 About the Instructor
Li (Julie) was born and raised in China. She earned her M.A. in English Translation from Xiamen University, and her Ph.D. in Chinese and Japanese language and literature from Nagoya University. She completed her Ph.D. at Nagoya University over a six-year period, during which she also taught Chinese language and literature. Her research interests include modern Japanese literature, traditional Chinese opera, and travel literature. Her research on cross-cultural communication equips her with a broader perspective for teaching, enabling her to not only offer language lessons but also help students gain a deeper understanding of China or Japan. She customizes lessons based on students’ specific goals and current proficiency level.
💡 Important Notes
This course runs online from June 25 to July 30.
A minimum of three students is required for the class to run the full six weeks.
If only two students enroll, the course will still run but will be shortened to five weeks.
🏫 About the School
This course is offered by Polyglottist Language Academy, based in Berkeley and serving students throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and beyond—with both in-person and onlinelearning options.
🇨🇳 Complete Beginner Mandarin - Online Class
For learners in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose & the Bay Area
📅 Course Dates
June 25 – July 30th
Format: Online, small group (3–6 students)
Schedule: Weekly live classes
👥 Who This Course Is For
This course is designed for absolute beginners—students with no prior experience or only limited exposure to Mandarin Chinese. Whether you’re learning for travel, work, cultural connection, or personal enrichment, this welcoming in-person class helps you build real-world skills from the ground up.
If you're based in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, or San Jose, this is the perfect opportunity to join a small group class in a supportive, interactive setting and begin your Mandarin journey with confidence.
📖 What You’ll Learn
In this course, students are introduced to the building blocks of Mandarin through speaking, listening, reading, and writing practice. You’ll start to:
Understand Pinyin (the Romanized phonetic system for Mandarin)
Build core vocabulary for everyday situations
Use basic sentence structures for greetings, questions, and short conversations
Recognize and write essential Chinese characters (Hanzi)
Develop correct tones and pronunciation
Gain insight into Chinese cultural norms and communication styles
🌍 Themes and Topics Include
Polite greetings and self-introductions
Talking about your family, nationality, and hobbies
Numbers, dates, and time
Ordering food and shopping basics
Cultural etiquette and conversational customs
💬 What to Expect
Each class includes:
Live, interactive instruction with an experienced teacher
Speaking and listening practice through real-life dialogues
Vocabulary and grammar exercises
Guided reading and character writing
Cultural explanations and group activities
Light homework to reinforce weekly learning
✅ By the End of the Course, You’ll Be Able To:
Communicate in basic daily situations
Read and write a small set of foundational characters
Use common phrases and sentence patterns with accurate tones
Understand how Mandarin grammar works at the beginner level
Prepare to continue into a Mandarin High Beginner course
👩🏫 About the Instructor
Li (Julie) was born and raised in China. She earned her M.A. in English Translation from Xiamen University, and her Ph.D. in Chinese and Japanese language and literature from Nagoya University. She completed her Ph.D. at Nagoya University over a six-year period, during which she also taught Chinese language and literature. Her research interests include modern Japanese literature, traditional Chinese opera, and travel literature. Her research on cross-cultural communication equips her with a broader perspective for teaching, enabling her to not only offer language lessons but also help students gain a deeper understanding of China or Japan. She customizes lessons based on students’ specific goals and current proficiency level.
💡 Important Notes
This course runs online from June 25 to July 30.
A minimum of three students is required for the class to run the full six weeks.
If only two students enroll, the course will still run but will be shortened to five weeks.
🏫 About the School
This course is offered by Polyglottist Language Academy, based in Berkeley and serving students throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and beyond—with both in-person and onlinelearning options.